26/03-19   -   Press releases

CEWE increases dividend for tenth consecutive year

Board of Management and Supervisory Board propose a dividend of 1.95 euros per share. Dividend yield of 3.1 % based on the 2018 year-end share price. Corporate targets all reached in 2018.

The Supervisory Board of CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA (SDAX, ISIN: DE 0005403901) decided in its meeting today to propose the tenth consecutive dividend increase. After a business year 2018, which saw the Group achieving all its corporate targets, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board are to propose a dividend of 1.95 euros per share for the business year of 2018 at the Annual General Meeting to be held on 5 June 2019 (dividend of previous year: 1.85 euros). "Our earning power and strong balance sheet enable us to raise our dividend in absolute terms for the tenth consecutive year," explains Dr. Olaf Holzkämper, CFO of the CEWE-group. On the basis of the share price at the end of 2018 (62,10 euros), shareholders will be receiving a dividend yield of 3.1 % with the dividend proposed.

CEWE achieves all turnover and profit targets for 2018
CEWE reached all its corporate targets for the financial year of 2018. Preliminary calculations show a 9.0% increase in turnover, to 653.3 million euros (2017: 599.4 million euros, turnover target for 2018: 630-665 million euros). CEWE achieved this through positive growth in the CEWE PHOTOBOOK and other photo gifts in the Christmas season. This enabled CEWE to withstand the general weakness in retailing in 2018, which was most affected by the weak summer months. The trend towards mobile devices and apps backs up CEWE's success: an increasing number of people are taking photos with their smartphone and placing orders, including mobile orders, for more and more photo products showing their personal photos. Operative earnings (EBIT) thus improved in total by 9.2%, to 53.7 million euros (2017: 49.2 million euros), coming very close to the 2018 EBIT target corridor of 48-54 million euros. The fourth quarter of 2018 considerably boosted growth and income: with turnover at 261.6 million euros (+11.6%) and EBIT at 55.7 million euros (+20.8%), CEWE once again clearly exceeded the strong figures of the previous year.

CEWE will present full, audited annual financial statements at the annual report and analysts' press conference to be held in Frankfurt am Main on 28 March 2019.